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Microsoft unveils new $29 phone, battery lasts one month with single charge

January 6, 2015
(Courtesy of Microsoft)

(Courtesy of Microsoft)

By Brian Han

While Apple and Samsung are off looking for cutting-edge smartphone technologies, Microsoft decided to go rogue.

Microsoft announced its latest offering on Jan. 5 — the Nokia 215 2G phone.

At $29, limited online capabilities and brick-like construction, it looks more like a phone you’d give to a toddler.

But it has its benefits.

Because the features are so simplistic, the phone can utilize the battery efficiently enough to last approximately 29 days according to Microsoft.

The phone runs on Nokia Series 30+ software and comes pre-loaded with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and a web browser. It also has a built-in 0.3 megapixel camera — archaic by modern standards.

It’s not difficult to see that the phone isn’t aimed at the young, hip demographics.

Instead, Microsoft is targeting developing markets and plans to release the Nokia 215 in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe within the first quarter of 2015.